Paul Lucas 00:00:07
Hello arm. Welcome to Insurance Business TV, a special edition brought to you by Axis, the leader of the WSIA Annual Marketplace. This is an addition made for us wholesale brokers as we examine the excess casualty market from some challenging casualty trends to social inflation risks to opportunities that may await your business. I am And for that, we have a true expert in the field on board, Mike Flaherty, Head of Additional Casualties at Access North America. Mike, welcome to Insurance Business TV.
Mike Flaherty 00:00:40
Thank you, Paul, great to be with you today.
Paul Lucas 00:00:42
So Mike, to start us off, talk to us about the current trends in the casualty market.
Mike Flaherty 00:00:48
Right now within the US excess casualty market, we will see continued market strength, continued price strength, more limits. Moderation continues, but I would say generally, this is a market characterized by disciplined underwriting across the market. So that, you know, creates a good, healthy opportunity for markets like ours to, you know, be experts and be active in the space that we see, you know, in the current market. Great opportunity.
Paul Lucas 00:01:21
Well, I like that line, great opportunity, although it’s a challenging market right now. So where exactly does Axis see opportunities, and what is your strategy for growth?
Mike Flaherty 00:01:31
Well, we see opportunities across a broad spectrum of U.S. excess casualties, you know, generally you know, an increasing trend in harm, an increasing trend in severity, social inflationary effects. I mean, these are broad and far-reaching challenges and issues for the market. So we typically see this issue affecting the entire marketplace, where we operate in markets with very broad and diverse risk, risk appetite and very broad and diverse portfolios. You know, on occasion, we’ll see specific areas of disruption and displacement, and that’s where we can be. We can be most effective in responding to the areas with the most disruption, the most dispersed, and stepping up and providing solutions within these segment groups. So it’s, you know, it’s not one particular area of ours, by the way, this challenge, it’s, it’s the whole product area. That challenge at this point, and, you know, creates a very broad and far-reaching opportunity for us, in areas where we want to grow as well. One point I would like to highlight is that brokers tend to think of us for the largest, most intensively exposed business when under-attached. But what I will remind everyone is that our capabilities are much greater than that. We write low-attaching, mid-attaching and high-attaching businesses. We enjoy participating in the mid-market space. We enjoy looking at some low-risk segments. They don’t have to be the biggest, ugliest and craziest account to get our interest. We enjoy working across a wide range of risks in the market. So that’s one message I would definitely like to convey.
Paul Lucas 00:01:53
Well, as you mentioned, the high casualty market deals with tighter risks. This is what you do. So what’s the outlook for the rest of 2024 and beyond? Of course, what are the risk factors that underwriters like you are paying close attention to?
Mike Flaherty 00:03:40
Well, in the product area, I’m very excited about the next 18 to 24 months. And you know, we’ve all seen and heard the underlying issues of worsening loss trends, worsening loss severity, social inflation, nuclear decisions, you know, year-on-year negative loss growth. These are ongoing issues that are not going away and, to be honest, the judicial system is still in the grip of, you know, the delays that we saw during Covid. So these are all constant and ongoing problems. They are all areas of constant concern. However, for us, I’d say they’re less concerned, because we’re actually, we’re very comfortable working in that space. We are comfortable underwriting in tough environments. We’re comfortable doing underwriting in areas that appear particularly acute, you know. So, you know, that’s a really big strength and pivot, and it’s an area where we can really bring good solutions to the table and help our brokers. Not everyone is as comfortable as we are in this space, and you know, not everyone adjusts as early to the new challenges of loss severity and worsening claims trends. So we’re really uniquely well positioned to take advantage of the situation going forward, and to step in and be helpful, to step in and provide solutions where, where other, other markets may not be available. I am very optimistic about the near future in the product sector.
Paul Lucas 00:05:21
I am sure you are looking for brokers to go ahead and join you at the WSIA conference. So tell us a little bit about your expectations for the conference. What do you hope brokers will be asking about, and indeed, what will your messages be to them there?
Mike Flaherty 00:05:35
Well, Paul, we are very excited for the upcoming WSIA conference. And you know, it’s always a great opportunity for us to get together with our brokers and talk about our mutual challenges in the current market and our plans for the future, our plans for growth. And in particular, I believe it was here that us casley and us exit casley would feature as the main topic of discussion. You know, everyone is aware of the significant ongoing challenges of lost trend, severity, trend, nuclear decisions, social inflation, some carriers suffering from negative year-over-year growth. I mean, they all really bring our topic to the fore incidentally. So we look forward to sitting down with our brokers to discuss our plans for the future. Again, I’m really optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead of us in this product area over the next 18 to 24 months. I am really looking forward to a productive conference.
Paul Lucas 00:06:41
I’m sure many people will be excited to reach you, Mike. If you want more information, you can reach out to Mike, or indeed, any of his additional injured teammates. Thank you very much for your time, and we hope to see you at the annual market. And of course, right here next time on Insurance Business TV.